Welcome to the Justice Series

Happy New Year everyone! 2014 is off to a great start! On yesterday, my precious daughter got baptized and partook in her first Lord’s Supper. And today, is my birthday! So I will be spending half of the day in prayer, meditation, thanksgiving and reflection. This afternoon, my little lady and I will attend a “Mommy and Me” dance class and I think my husband plans to whisk me away this evening.

I will conclude my holiday schedule and return to my normal routine on tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know what you have to look forward to on A Sista’s Journey in the weeks and months ahead. I have officially started my last semester of seminary! Hoorah! (It’s a bittersweet feeling actually. While I am looking forward to a little relief from the rigorous deadlines, I will certainly miss the spiritual and intellectual engagement, along with the fellowship.) This semester is also the start of my final independent study in which I will focus on the topic of biblical justice. Therefore, today begins a four month series on biblical justice. While I will reserve Mondays to continue sharing about other topics that we normally discuss on the blog, keep you up to speed on my writings and other publications, and sharing a Christian Worldview on current events, the rest of the week will be devoted to the series. I will conduct the Biblical Justice Blog Series in a similar manner as the Racial Reconciliation Series completed in 2012.

Throughout the series, I will introduce you to new voices who will share about various topics of biblical justice. Additionally, I will provide insights from my reading, personal convictions and reflections, and highlighting the lives of people who have stood for justice.

I will be participating in The Justice Conference (February 20-23, 2014 in Los Angeles, CA) again this year—this time via a simulcast in Greensboro, NC. If you cannot physically attend the conference, I highly recommend that you go to their “partner site” and find a simulcast that is located near you. In the coming weeks, I will present information about the conference.

I’m also a part of the launch team for Gary A. Haugen, President and CEO of International Justice Mission, forthcoming book, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence so you can expect to hear more about that as well.

January is the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and I am organizing a four part education and awareness series on the topic, so I will be focusing on the crime of human trafficking a great deal this month and beyond. As part of this focus, we will have a weekly chapter-by-chapter book discussion on Shayne Moore and Kimberly McOwen Yim’s book, “Refuse to do Nothing: Finding Your Power to Abolish Modern-Day Slavery.” The discussion begins on tomorrow. Grab the book and let’s talk.

There is no doubt that we will be discussing hard topics over the next few months. I think it’s important to say that I am not trying to depress you. I care about and am focusing my studies on justice because I believe that God is just and He loves and cares about people, and God wants us to respond with righteous actions when people—those He created in his image—are not being treated justly.

With that understanding, it is not my intent to leave you without hope. I believe that Christ has the power to break every chain of injustice and He is supreme over every authority on earth. While anticipating his death and after sharing the reality that the world will instead hate his disciples, Jesus taught about the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8).” The Holy Spirit will guide us in all truth (16:13). He continues this teaching with the statement, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (16:133).”

In this world, we will have trouble. In Christ, we do have peace so we do not turn a blind eye to injustices. We stare them in the face. We are hopeful. We pray and we take action because we love and care about people and because we belong to the one who has overcome the world. Welcome to the Justice series.

© Natasha Sistrunk Robinson 2014